Improvement in artificial legs



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W'ILLIAM IIINDS, OF LITTLE FALLS, N-EVV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN ARTIFICIAL LEGS.

Sl'iecilieation forming part of Letters Patent No. 44,726, dated October1S, 1864 .ante dated october 6, 1864.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WM. HlNDS, of Little Falls, county of Herkimer, andState of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements inArtificial Legs; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description ofthe construction and operation of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecilication, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

A good substitute for the l ss of the natural leg has always been a veryintricate and difticult piece of mechanism to produce. In itsconstruction are involved some very formidable antagonislns or opposingprinciples that are hard to overcome or obviate. One of these is thatlegs to be easy and expeditious to walk upon should be very light, andin opposition to this it is found that artificial legs come to a gooddeal ot' strain, and are liable to many casualties-such as breaking,splitting, Wearing ont, '8m-to obviate which it is necessary to makethem of strong and weighty materials, which will greatly increase theirweight. Another difficulty of this kind is that the knee-spring, to drawthe leg to a straight position and assist in ,its locomotion, shouldstrain the hardest While the leg is straight or being straightened; butthe reverse of this is that the strain of springs now in use for thispurpose is greatly intensied in .iiexing the leg. These difficulties,however, are greatly removed or modified in my leg, as I shall endeavorto show.

The devices that will be claimed as new are the band at the top of theleg, the knee-band forming the knee-joint, the ankleband forming theankle-joint, the metallic belt to stop and hold the leg in a straightposition, the spring for actuating the knee-joint, and the changeableheel.

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will now describe itsconstruction and operation.

Figure 1 of the drawings is an exterior view of the leg in its completedstate. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation made in the direction ot' itslocomotion to show the interior machinery. Fig. 3 is an inside View ofthebclt. Fig. Il is a kind oi" bail to work in the coiled spring g. Fi

5 is a rod to Work in the spring g', and Fig. 6 is a side view of thestaple-bolts.

The main body ot' the leg (represented by A and B) is to be made oflight wood, and the foot C ofthe same or of vulcanized indiarubber orother material. The bands, bolts, belt, Ste., for connecting the woodenparts are to be made of iron or other metal, springs to be made ofsteel, iron, or brass.

A, Fig. l., is the thigh piece or socket, made hollow and open at 'eachend. The upper end is secured and protected by a light band, (marked10,) made in two parts and connected at the ends by rivets that aretirst inserted through the part A and then through the ends of the partsforming the band. The inside half of the band has a turn outward andvnearly at right angle to the band and leg, as is shown at a., Figs. land 2, to stiften and protect thc leg against splitting, and also tosupport a pad or cushion for the sea-t ot' the wearer to rest upon. rlheturn (or liange,77 as it may properly be called) has holes in the outedge thereof to sew the pad to. The use ot' this flange is to furnish awide bearin g for the seat of the wearer to rest upon, and also toprovide a way for adjusting the socket to the stump as it shrinks insize, which is a consequence peculiar to amputated legs. When legs donot till the socket, the act of wal kin g is very ditlcult andburdensome.

I have worn artificial legs for the last fourteen years, have made myown, and Worn out four. The keeping of the socket properly adjusted tothe stump of my leg has been a matter of much difficulty, especiallywith those I have Worn out. rIhose were made after the fashion of thebest legs l had then seen; but they could not be packed to prevent themfrom slipping up and down on the stump, as the iiesh upon the bone wouldslip enough for that. I am now wearing a leg that I have had ou nearlyfour years. It has had no repairs yet, and probably Will need none foras long a time to come. It is banded around the top, around the knee,and around the ankle, and has the iange for the seat of the wearer torest upon, and the part coming in contact with the pad is so near thebone that there is but little slipping on the stump. vWhen the socketbecomes loose from the shrinkage of' the stump,

it can be packed under the pad, or the pad can be taken out and athicker one put in. This method of diminishing the size ofthe socketdispenses with the use of cloths, that l heat, irritate, and gall thestump, and render the act of walking almost impracticable in hotweather.

b, Figs. l. and 2, is a thin band to support the lower end of the socketA. lt is shaped to form the knee-joint, and has the earsj with ha lesthrough them in which to secure the knee-bolt. Connected to the frontpart of the b.:nd is a hook, h, projecting inward. The band is rivetedto the socket A.

7c is a jointed belt or suspender, some like a chain,for stopping andholding the leg in a :traight position.

l are links secured by belts within another kind of link, (marked thathas cross connections at the ends and in the middle. Thecross-connections at the ends of x are covered with leather or othermaterial to prevent them from giving oi sound or eluekiiig as they comein contact with the links l, which they will invariably doif the belt-isstraightened without this protection. A further use of this arrangementis to stop the belt before it becomes straight to insure the folding ofthe belt into the leg, whereas ifit were permitted to become straightwithout this check or stoppage it would be as likely to fold out as inin flexing the leg. The middle connection is for attaching a leatherstrap or cord, a, to a spring, an, in the front part of the socket.'.lhe strap is made short, so as to strain considerably on the spring mto prevent the belt from making any jerking or clucking noise as itbecomes straight.

The end of the link l at one end of the belt la connects with a platethat is secured under the band b by a screw, i, inserted through saidband. The link at the other end connects to a plate, d, that is securedto another plate, p, and that in turn is secured to the outside of leg Bby wood-screws. Un the outside plate is an arm, c, through which a screwis inserted that screws into an arm, e, for the purpose ot' lengtheningor shortening the belt, as convenience may require.

f is a screw that goes through plate p and screws into plate d to holdthat more firmly in place.

g and g are coiled springs, the lower one for liiting and holding up thetoe of the foot, and the other one is to assist the wearer in swingingthe leg forward in the act of walking. At the end of each is a loop togo over the arm c. rlhe upper one has a bail., t', (see Fig. 4,) withoutward turns on the ends of the prongs to work over the coils of thespring, and by turning it round in either direction it will move to andfro, making it answer the purpose ot' a screw for adjusting the upperand lower leg for the better convenience of walking. The lower springhas a rod, o, (see Fig. 5,) connected with it that loops over the pin u,and at the other end is a cross in a T form to screw into the coils ot'the spring g to adjust itto the tension or strain necessary. T lie baili goes over a hook on the stirrup s, which is secured to the arm h. Thearm h and stirrup S work in a slot in the front part ot` the kuee,whilethe legis being flexed and straightened.

B is the lower leg, made hollow and open at the bottom end. The top endis rounded to form the knee, and has a slot in the front side for thearm h to work in. The bottom end of B is secured by a thin band made intwo parts, the part y overlapping the part y', for the purpose ofbeing'connected by rivets that first pass through, the wood and thenthrough the ends of the parts forming the band. rlhe front part ot' theband is shaped to form the ankle-joint, and has the ears j, throughwhich the ankle-bolt is inserted. The ankle-bolt and knee-bolt are bothmade hol low to secure lightness and a large bea-ringsurface.

C is the foot with a slot through it at C', Fig. 2, and a cavity orhollow in the inside at C2, reaching to the toe-piece to securelightness. Over the instep is a thin plate, Z, to maintain a good jointagainst the ankle. 'llie toe piece D'goes into the foot with a singletenori, and shows in the drawings the form ot' the joint, which needs nospring or other device to keep it in place, as the shoe or boot will dothat. The foot is connected to the leg B by wide staples or loops, (seeFig. 6,) the prongs terminating in bolts that go over the ankle-bolt,then through the foot, .and are fastened on the under side by screws.The anklebolt turns in boxes bushed with leather, secured on the footand under the staples. At w' is an opening in the leg, through which toput in the springs, and may be closed by a plate or left open. y

F is a removable heel-piece, fastened to the foot by wood-screws, andmade in the form shown to provide for the repair ofthe heel bysubstituting new ones, as the heel is the first thing in artificial legsto wear out. lt is made in the form of a shoe-heel for the purpose ofwearing shoes over it made like overshoes, with a box for the heel torest in, to prevent the foot from pushing forward against the toe of theshoe, as they are generally very sure to do.

The kuee-bolt, and bolts for using the belt, and all metal parts thatcome in contact should be bushed with leather or some like material toprevent creating sound. This I be lieve fully describes theconstruction.

By way of explaining its utility or useful ness, I will say a few wordsmore on its operation as compared with other legs. Light legs aresupposed by many to be indispensable for walking easily, but there isnot so much in this as supposed. A few pounds in a leg sup portedofi-the shoulders by Suspenders is but foot, suspended at the extremityot' a long led ver, worked by the stump, is a tatiguing annoyance.Therefore the extremity ofthe leg little felt, but a pound or half-poundin the and foot should be made as light as possible and retainsufficient strength.

A good spring to actuate the knee-joint has always been of great servicein walking easily; but hitherto I believe no springs have been used inartificial legs that have endured long before breaking. The coiledspring presents the longest space for the spring to bend through, andconsequently is the least liablel to break but heretofore they have beenmade to draw around the circumference of t-he joint, making the spacethrough which the spring has to traverse or spring so great that theysoon break. My spring acts across the diameter, and within the shell ofthelog, so that the traverse of the spring is not more than one-third ofthose which draw around the circumference.

0n reviewing the drawings, it will be seen that the line of the draft ofthe spring from the knee-bolt will be the greatest when the leg isstraight, thereby giving it the greatest level age power while in thatposition. As the leg is being iiexed, the line of the draft will beconstantly approaching the knee-bolt, and thereby constantly shorteningthe leverage power until it reaches the center of the bolt, Where itwill have no power to flex or straighten the leg. After passing the deadpoint, the draft of the spring will act to iiex the leg, but with soshort a leverage that it will exert but little resistance to thestraightening of the leg. From these conclusions it is clear that thegreatest strain ofthe spring will. be exerted While the leg is straightor being straightened, which will bethe exact place for it.

The joints of artificial legs have heretofore been hinged by strapsriveted to the parts that are op en, and, being supported only by a thincovering of parchment or leather, they soon swell, shrink, split, andbecome loose and shackling. Thev bands used in my leg support andprotect the sockets and joints against all these casualties, and alwaysmaintain good joints. 4

That I claim as my invention, and Wish to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, 1s-

1. Constructing the inside half ofthe-band securing the top of thesocketA with a wide `iiange, as partly shown at d.

2. rlhe band b, with the hook I L and earsj, fitted to forni theknee-joint.

3. The ankle-baud y and y', made with the earsj, to hinge it to the footand shaped to form the ankle-joint.

4. The belt k,spring m, and strap n, arranged and connected to the partsA and B.

5. The appendages s and i, in combination with the spring g, arranged asdescribed, and operating across the diameter of the joint, as set forth.

(i. The heel-piece F and rod o, all of which is constructedsubstantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

NVM. HINDS.

Timesses JOHN S. HoLLiNesI-IEAD, SAMUEL STRONG.

